


Hey, Team Captain!

by starryrosez



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Sports, F/M, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Shiro (Voltron)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-02 00:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12715584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryrosez/pseuds/starryrosez
Summary: Shiro is a senior and captain of his school’s football team. There’s a girl that all the boys are harassing and in his attempt to stop it he befriends her (and possibly becomes something more). Keith is a sophomore in the shadows of his brother and is figuring out himself. Lance just wants his role model to appreciate him more.





	1. Fall

**Author's Note:**

> This is an attempt at a more character/relationship-based story and it could've been better, but, I don't think it turned out so bad? Hopefully :')
> 
> Enjoy!

The hot summer wind blew across the field as the the boys lined up. They all stood in shorts and sweaty t-shirts stained with grass.There were freshmen hoping to make the team and make their debut for high school, there were sophomores striving for varsity. Juniors stood with their heads held high in the hopes that they would be chosen for captain next year.

The seniors were in a separate line, all tall and broad and standing upright. The current captain walked down the line studying every single boy in the line. The coach was a few feet behind examining from a distance.

"I'm glad you all made it through try-outs," the captain announced, "It's been a long and difficult week for all of you and I'm sure you want to know the results."

One of the juniors snickered and made a comment causing everybody to laugh except for a few nervous freshmen. The captain's eyes drifted to one of them.

He was the tallest freshman out of all of them with short black hair and an older appearance. During tryouts the freshman had demonstrated to be one of the greatest football players the school had ever seen. The captain turned to him and smiled.

"Shirogane Takashi," the captain said.

"Y-yes!" the freshman said standing up even straighter than before. There was some sort of aura around him causing the other freshman to follow his example. The captain knew he would make a great leader one day.

"How long have you been playing?" he asked the freshman.

 

"This would be my second year."

"Second year?" _the kid is a freaking monster!_ How in the world is it only his second year of playing?

"Well congratulations kid," the captain patted his back, "You made the team!"

His face lit up instantly and he started smiling, "Thank you."

"Not so fast," the coach interjected pulling out a jersey from the box, "You didn't _just_ make the team. You made varsity."

The entire line of upperclassmen clapped as he was handed his uniform. The number 29 was on his jersey.

"Shiro," the captain said, "I think you're going to do wonders for our team."

"I hope so," Shiro said shaking hands with the captain.

"Welcome everybody to VHS radio 106.4. Today is a great evening for all of you football fans. That's right! Today is Voltron High School's Homecoming game! Now we have here one of our former players from the football team as our guest. Please welcome Jeremy McClain!"

"Hey, it's great to be back!"

"Yes, it is, for those of you who don't know Jeremy McClain is one of our former captains of the football team and was a quarterback and linebacker in his career here. So tell us, Jeremy, you were the captain that recruited Shirogane Takashi right?"

"Yes, I was. The moment I saw him I just knew he was going to take our team to new levels."

"I think we all knew it the moment we watched the first game Shiro's ever been in."

"Definitely, and it was by chance too. Our team's linebacker got injured after an aggressive tackle by the opposing team. We ended up having to put Shiro in. We ended up winning by many points that night thanks to him and ever since he's had a great record."

"Now he's captain and the quarterback of the team. He's scored 240 points over the course of these four years and has been ranked as the best football player in the entire state of Maryland. Do you think Shirogane will go places with that impressive record?”

“Certainly, he can go to any college he’d like to with that record.”

“I’m sure he can. We’re all watching you Shiro!”

"Alright, guys tonight's game was a good one!" Shiro announced in the locker room, "But just because we won by over 20 points doesn't mean we got this in the bag. Remember, there is always a stronger opponent."

"Not when you're the strongest opponent," one of his teammates joked.

The team exploded into laughter as they patted the guy's back. Shiro smiled to himself as he began changing. Even without him, his team was excellent. They had little siblings of former players and boys who have played football their entire lives. And they were all great guys, really.

He felt something being pushed down onto his head and he whipped around to find Lance McClain, cornerback and little brother of Jeremy, one of his former captains beaming at him mischievously.

"Hey, Shiro," Lance said as he adjusted whatever was placed on his head, "You forgot your crown, homecoming king."

Shiro clicked his tongue as he removed the crown from his head and promptly placed it in his locker, "Lance, I told you to hold it for me, not to play around with it."

"Awe c'mon, Shiro," Lance laughed as he nudged Shiro, "Everybody knows Voltron's golden boy was going to win that crown."

"Not exactly," Shiro disagreed, "There are plenty of other guys who were nominated that could've won. Like there's the captain of the soccer team and the really good actor from drama club, and there's also that really smart kid—"

"Don't be so modest Shiro," Lance interrupted, "We all voted for you because you deserve it. Let's be honest, if not you, who would've won?"

Hunk, one of the buffer guys on the team with amazing cooking skills chimed in, "Lance is right for once and you know I never defend him."

Shiro smiled, "Alright, but don't get too full of yourselves. Just because I won as a captain doesn't mean you will when your turn comes."

Lance winked as he placed an arm over Hunk's shoulder and began to walk away, "Unless you're Shirogane motherfucking Takashi."

Shiro laughed as he shook his head to himself. The sophomore boy won his spot as varsity this year and was an impressive player. He also knew that Lance had other talents and played other sports. However, Lance was known to be the class flirt and the class clown at the same time. And having those two titles as a 15-year-old boy was a sure-telling how much maturity he lacked. Nonetheless, Shiro has a feeling that sometime between now and his junior year he'll mature greatly.

"Hey, Shiro! We were all planning on going to the diner now, you in?" a junior called out.

"Sure, you guys go ahead! I'll meet you guys there!"

"Alright!"

Once changed and having placed everything away in his locker or his bag Shiro closed his locker and headed towards the back of the locker room. There his little brother Keith sat on a bench, already changed from his uniform to his black hoodie and earbuds in. Shiro smiled at him as he placed the homecoming crown on Keith. Immediately the wide receiver looked up and glared at his brother.

"What do you want?" Keith grumbled as he took out an earbud.

"Nothing, I just want to tease my little brother."

Keith rolled his eyes as Shiro ruffles his hair.

"Let's go home," Keith said.

"Ah... about that..." Shiro said.

"No," Keith responded standing up and retrieving his bag.

"But we're dining out with the team! It's the perfect opportunity for you to bond with the other sophomores on varsity!"

"I don't want to," Keith said as he began to walk away, "Let's go home."

" _Keith_..."

"I said I want to go home okay?" Keith snapped.

"What's wrong? I thought you were excited to get to know the other guys on the team..."

Keith sighed and turned to Shiro, lilac eyes glowing as he frowned. He clenched his fists as he gritted his teeth.

"I-It's that Lance," Keith confessed, "He gets on my nerves."

"Lance Mcclain?" Shiro chuckled, "Okay, I can see why. Don't mind him, he just likes to make himself look cool."

"Is looking cool not covering me properly and messing up the line every single time?" Keith huffed.

"Alright, let's make a deal. You won't have to sit with him if you come to the diner."

Shiro watched as Keith pondered his choices. If the problem was Lance, then the solution was easy, avoid him. Avoiding somebody shouldn't have to interfere with one's social life unless one wants it to.

"Fine, I'll go," Keith gave in, "But I'm sitting at your table."

"That can be arranged," Shiro smiled as he guided his brother out of the locker room, "Now c’mon, we got a diner to go."

"Keith!" Lance waved as the two brothers entered the diner, "Hey, Hunk and I saved you a spot!"

Keith's calm demeanor immediately turned dark. In an effort to protect him Shiro grabbed Keith and held him back from the sophomores.

"Sorry boys, Keith is already sitting with his big brother," Shiro apologized.

Lance and Hunk frowned as Shiro escorted Keith away from them.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit with them?" Shiro whispered. To him, Lance and Hunk seemed to be nice boys and they looked sad when Keith didn't sit with them.

"I'm sure," Keith responded as he slid into the booth.

"Alright," Shiro sighed as he sat down next to Keith.

Across from the brothers were Matt Holt and Justin Fezenko two of Shiro's best friends.

"Great game today guys," Matt said.

"Yeah, we all did great. Including you, Keith," Justin complimented Shiro's little brother.

"Thanks, you weren't bad either," Keith responded quietly.

A waitress came up to the table holding out a tiny black notepad in one hand and a pen with another.

"Hey guys," she said in a cheery tone, "What can I get for you?"

"I'll have a chocolate milkshake," Shiro said.

"I'll have the same thing," Matt responded.

"Me too," Justin added.

"I'll have a black coffee," Keith ordered.

"Alright, your orders will be coming in shortly," the waitress said before heading to another table.

Justin gave Keith a teasing smile, "No milkshake today, huh?"

Keith shrugged, "I'm not in the mood for sweets."

Just then the front door opened and a group of girls came pouring into the diner. All the boys at the diner turned to the group of girls. They were all wearing matching black shirts with blue shorts. The girls were still wearing the ribbons in their hair from the game. They were the cheerleaders.

A bunch of guys started hollering as some of the girls smiled and waved to the guys. Some girls looked visibly uncomfortable and refused to look in the direction of the football team. One that caught Shiro's was a black girl with long dyed white hair. As she walked by the tables of the football team she raised her chin slightly and ignored the boys, choosing to widen her smile and pretend that whatever her friend was saying was so _interesting_ she couldn't notice the boys.

The girl and her friends slid into the booth across from Shiro's table.

Justin smiled, "It's our lucky day today. We get to sit across from Allura."

"Allura?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, the girl with the white girl you can't miss her."

"What's the big deal?" Shiro asked. He's never heard of her before now, despite the fact that she is popular apparently.

"She's part of the academics team. Really smart. President of the NHS. She joined the cheerleading squad this year for an unknown reason," Matt explained.

"Is she a senior?" Shiro asked glancing at Allura.

"Yeah, she's been here since freshman year...Shiro, how have you not known?" Julian asked.

"I don't know...." Shiro shrugged, "We've never been in a class together, and I wasn't accepted into NHS so we never had an opportunity to meet...."

Allura caught Shiro's gaze and the two stare at each other for a few moments. Allura smiled and waved at Shiro as Shiro, dumbfounded by her beauty, waved back.

"Until now," Justin finished for Shiro, "Go on, introduce yourself."

Shiro turned back to Allura who was talking with her friends again. Shiro shook his head.

"I'd rather not interrupt them," the captain said.

"Alright," Justin laughed as the waitress came up and gave Keith his coffee, "Suit yourself. How about you, Keith?"

"I'm good," Keith answered.

"You guys are boring me," Justin whined.

As the waitress came up with their milkshakes Shiro glanced at Allura once more to find her smiling at him. Shiro smiled back.

-

"What the fuck," Justin breathed out as he struggled to finish the diagram, "This is not turning out how it's supposed to."

Shiro shrugged as he connected a wire to the light bulb, emitting a bright light, "Want me to check what you're doing wrong?"

"No," Justin responded as he scribbled on the worksheet.

Shiro detached the wire and recorded his observations, "Are you sure?"

Julian nodded, "I think I got it."

One glance at Justin's sheet indicated that he was nowhere near getting it, but Shiro decided not to comment.

"Alright, just remember that we have to leave soon for practice," Shiro said as he played around with the wires.

Realizing he doesn't have enough wires, Shiro stood up and headed over to the supply closet. While searching for the wires he failed to notice two newcomers coming into the classroom. It's not until he caught a glimpse of silver hair that Shiro turns around.

And there she is. Allura with her hair tied up in a ponytail, black-rimmed glasses framing her face and a red folder in her hand as she came up to a desk with a shorter brunette on her phone. Shiro immediately recognized Allura's friend as Katie, his best friend's younger sister.

"Pidge," Allura said as she dropped the folder on the desk, "I figured out how to get the robot to go around the ledge and not fall over."

"Really?!" Katie replied, "Thank god, how do we fix it genius?"

"Well, it's simple. You know Roombas? Well, they have a sensor that detects when they're about to go over a ledge," Allura looked up to see Shiro and she waved. Shiro waved back.

Shiro returned to his station and Justin nudged him.

"Look," Justin whispered, "It's Allura."

"So?" Shiro said, continuing with his lab.

"So?" Justin repeated, "I'll be back, I'm going to get her number."

Justin left Shiro's side and headed over to the girls. "Hey ladies."

Allura and Pidge frowned at Justin.

"Hey," Allura replied enthusiastically.

"Updog," Justin said.

"What?" Allura asked, "What's—"

Katie clamped her hand on Allura's mouth, "Don't."

"Oh come on, you just ruined a perfectly good joke," Justin whined.

"Uh-huh now bye," Katie shushed him away.

Shiro started laughing as Justin's sad face met Shiro's.

"Smooth," Shiro teased.

"Not a word."

Shiro turned back to his work, a smile on his face. After a while Katie went to the bathroom, leaving Allura alone. As if on cue, a group of guys came into the room and began flirting with Allura. At first, their flirtations were innocent and Allura even flirted back with some of them, but suddenly things began to get out of control.

"You have such pretty eyes why do you hide them behind glasses?" this one guy asked.

"Well, I ran out of contacts yesterday I need to go and buy more," Allura responded.

"Will you ever have your natural hair? I'm sure you'll look even more beautiful."

"No thanks, I like this hair."

"Are you a virgin?"

"What?" Allura blushed.

"Have you ever had sex before?" he repeated.

"Huh?" Allura's face reddened as he grabbed her.

"How about I take you home and the two of us do some hankie-pankie," the guy said.

Allura's eyes widened "Um, please let go of me I don't like being touched—

"C'mon baby I can give you a good time," his hand went up to stroke the side of Allura's face.

"Enough," Shiro growled as he grabbed the boy's wrist, "Leave her alone."

"And if I don't?" the boy raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't want to go there buddy," Shiro released the hand and stood in front of Allura raising an arm to shield her from the predators, "Now run along and mind your own business and don't you _dare_ come near her ever again."

Shiro's never seen a group of boys scurry out of a room so fast.

Shiro stretched out as he exited the locker room. Practice today was too long and exhausting. Shiro couldn't wait to go home and relax. The autumn night air was cool enough to start healing Shiro's aching body. As he walked down to the parking lot he spotted her.

Allura was leaning against the building opposite of the varsity locker rooms. Her white hair was up in a ponytail just like earlier that day except for the ribbons the cheerleaders tied in their hair were present. She was playing on her phone and had a bored expression on her face.

Deciding that human interaction is something still valid in society, Shiro took it upon himself to approach her.

"Hey," Shiro greeted.

Without sparing him a glance Allura responded, "Hey."

"I thought Cheerleading ended an hour ago," Shiro said, "Are you uh, waiting for somebody?"

"Yeah, Lance," Allura looked up to meet Shiro's eyes with a smile, "You know him right?"

"Right," Shiro nodded, "He's one of three sophomores on varsity. Excellent football player. Are you two...?"

Shiro didn't want to ask because he doesn't believe that such an immature guy could win the heart of such an attractive and sweet girl.

"He's my little cousin," Allura explained, "Practically my little brother." There's a loving smile on her face as if she's remembering a memory she had with Lance.

Shiro was a bit shocked that the two were related but now that it has been pointed out, the two do share similar characteristics. They both have blue eyes and dark skin, they have a familiar shape of noses and the soft lips of Allura's can be an exact replica of Lance's permanent smirk if Allura ever smirked. And yet somehow, Allura looked more graceful and innocent with her dashing looks while Lance looked more handsome and captivating.

"Ah, I'm Shiro," Shiro said, "But...you probably already know that."

Allura nodded, "You probably already know my name as well but Allura."

"It's nice to meet you Allura."

"Likewise."

The two are silent for a few moments. The remaining crickets from the summer could be heard faintly in the quiet night.

"Thanks by the way," Allura said, "For what you did earlier today."

"No problem," Shiro responded, "Those guys were bothering you and there was only one option I had; to stop it."

Allura laughed and placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder. Shiro felt his face heating up from the contact and from the beautiful laughter the girl had. When her laughter subsided there was a brilliant smile left on her face and Shiro's tempted to smile back with the same brilliance. He can already feel the corners of his lips turning up.

"You need to get out of my way when the ball comes towards me," Keith complained, "You're messing up the line and it's annoying."

" _I'm_ doing everything perfectly," Lance shot back, "You're just too slow to get into position."

"No. _You're_ going too fast," Keith huffed.

Allura and Shiro turned to the direction of the voices to find Keith and Lance with their bags slung over their shoulders, literally moments away from ripping each other's throats apart. Keith has his arms crossed and was rolling his eyes at everything Lance had to say. Lance is aggressively stepping closer to Keith as he countered Keith's vile insults.

"How about you do your role properly and stop messing everythi—

"You do your job!" Lance shot back.

"This is—

"Okay," Shiro stepped in grabbing Keith by the shoulders and turning him away from Lance, "It's getting late and it's time to go home."

"But!" Keith began to protest but immediately gave up when Shiro gave him a stern look.

Allura had stepped in as well, wrapping a protective arm around Lance and already walking him away. She turned to Shiro and smiled.

"I'll see you around?" She asked.

"Yes." Shiro answered, _definitely_.

Shiro and Keith silently walked towards the car. As soon as they got in, Shiro turned to Keith.

"Can you tell me _what the hell_ , you two were doing?" Shiro began to pull out of the parking lot as he asked.

Keith crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "It's not a big deal."

"Like _hell_ , it is," Shiro sneered.

"Seriously!" Keith defended himself, "Lance was just being an annoying prick during practice! He messed me up every time. He needs to stay in his lane! And besides, I was being mature when I kindly asked him to actually be a cornerback for once. He started it—

"I don't care who started it!" Shiro interrupted, "Keith, he is your teammate and the two of you cannot be picking fights like this! You're both talented players and are sophomores on varsity. Not many sophomore boys have this opportunity."

Keith rolled his eyes and huffed, "You were on varsity as a freshman."

"It doesn't matter, you didn't do football last year so this is still impressive" Shiro reminded Keith, "And Coach Coran and I spent hours talking about what the line-up should be. We disagreed on several things Keith but you know what we agreed on? You as a wide-receiver and him as _your_ cornerback. The two of you got along so well during try-outs, I don't know what happened between you two."

"Can't you just change the line-up so we don't have to be together?" Keith asked.

"I'd have to talk with Coran and you know he's stubborn so it's unlikely," Shiro answered, "Besides, you need to get along with Lance. You need friends, Keith."

Keith rolled his eyes, "I don't need friends Shiro, I have you."

Shiro frowned a pang of guilt welling up inside of him, "I'm not going to always be here Keith..."

The car turned up to their street and Shiro began to slow down the car so that they can roll into the driveway with ease.

"What do you mean?" Keith asked.

Shiro sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He had been dreading this conversation with Keith for some time now and he wished he could talk about it in another calmer scenario. But life doesn't work that way and Shiro braced himself for the oncoming storm.

"I'm...not staying in Altea for college..." Shiro confessed, "I'm going to Boston."

Keith gritted his teeth, "So what? You're leaving me?"

"That's not what's going on here Keith," Shiro explained, "The college of my dreams is up there and I—

Keith abruptly ended the conversation and stormed into the house leaving Shiro hanging.

Dumbfounded and heartbroken, Shiro sighed and rested his head against the steering wheel.

Coach Coran had gathered all of the senior boys on the team into the locker room for a meeting. He was holding up a blue folder, to the group, his orange clipboard in his other hand. The blue folder was all too familiar with the seniors. They knew how important their game that was scheduled to happen in less than two hours was to those that wanted to continue football in college.

"I'm sure you all know what this folder means," Coran said as he dropped it onto the bench in front of him, everybody's eyes following it, "Enclosed in here are all of the confirmed scouts that are in the crowd. If you're planning on continuing playing football in college, this is one of the most important games of the year for you. You need to be in top shape. Keep your mistakes to a minimum and _absolutely no fighting_. Shiro, is there anything you'd like to add?"

Shiro cleared his throat and shook his head, "Couldn't have said it better myself, Coach."

"Alright!" Coran clapped his hands, "Bring it in everybody!"

Everybody gathered around into a circle and placed their hands in the middle.

"1, 2, 3, Lions!"

The team chanted as they lifted their hands into the air. The group departed and began preparing for the upcoming game. As Shiro headed over to his locker he caught Keith with Lance and Hunk together in the corner of his eye. They seemed to be engrossed in a conversation. Shiro hoped that was a good thing.

They were on the field warming up for their game. The other team was glaring at Shiro, pointing at him and whispering.

"Looks like our legendary Shiro has some friends on the other team, "Justin joked.

Shiro shrugged, he didn't pay any attention to the other team. He just wanted to stretch.

"Keith!" Shiro called out as he pulled his arms over his head.

Keith, now in his uniform, jogged over to Shiro, "Yeah?"

"Tell everybody we're gathering by our field goal in five minutes."

"Okay," Keith nodded as he jogged away.

Matt, who was stretching along with Shiro smiled teasingly, "He's like your errand boy."

"He's his own person," Shiro defended Keith as he switched arms.

"Is he?" Matt replied, "Did you tell him about what college you're thinking of going to yet?"

"Of course," Shiro replied as he began twisting his body, "Who do you take me for?"

"How did he react?" Matt inquired.

Shiro's silence was enough of an answer to the brunette, "See?"

"Alright," Shiro sighed, "I'm working on fixing that."

"Sure you are," Matt sounded doubtful.

"Oh, would you look at the time!" Shiro excused himself as he clapped his hands to gather his team's attention, "Alright guys, gather round! Let's bring it in and pulverize them!"

The score was 30-10 with Voltron in the lead. Shiro's team had the ball. Everybody was lining up into their offense positions. Shiro took the ball and quickly scanned his surroundings.

Matt's area looked like the other team had their eye on. Matt was the fastest wide receiver on the team and so he was most likely to get the pass. While Shiro had complete trust that Matt would be able to get the ball, Shiro was afraid that the defense on the team would tackle him before he can go far.

Shiro's eyes drifted to Keith. After Matt leaves, Keith will be the fastest boy on the entire team. Since he has yet to make a pass to Keith in this game, nobody looked ready to pounce on Keith.

Shiro smiled to himself, as he made the pass towards Keith's direction.

Keith gracefully caught the ball as the attention shifted over to him and the aggressive tacklers came charging. Keith skillfully evaded the tackles until—

 _Wham!_ One of the cornerbacks on the other team rammed into Keith. Keith clenched onto the ball as tight as he could as he toppled over. The ref blew his whistle as he ran over to where Keith was tackled to make sure everything was okay. At least they were able to get 20 yards away from mid-field. Shiro made a mental note to tell Keith to not zig-zag to avoid the tacklers since it'll slow him down.

The ref blew the whistle indicating to line-up. He saw the cornerback from the opposing team say something to Keith and his little brother's eyes widened. He looked surprised and slightly mortified. Before Shiro can register what exactly was going on Lance had swept in front of Keith with a displeased look. The brunette said something to the cornerback before wrapping an arm around Keith's shoulder and walking him away. The cornerback must have said something else cause the two sophomores whipped around.

"Don't you dare say that!" Lance yelled as he shoved the guy looking ready to punch him.

The cornerback was also looking ready to punch Lance. The two began shoving each other daring the other to make the first move. Lance was ballistic in his yells and the cornerback was yelling back. Keith had stepped in and began to drag Lance away as the refs came rushing in. Lance was struggling as Keith dragged him away from the other guy.

"What the hell," Justin muttered under his breath, "He's ruining _everything_."

If only Shiro didn't turn to face Justin. For in that split second Lance had broke free from Keith's grasp and was coming up to the cornerback.

And suddenly Lance's fist was in the cornerback's face.

Lance sat on the bench with a blank expression his face. His tan skin was glistening in the light from all of the sweat. His helmet was cast aside him and he was picking at the chipped paint on the bench. Across from him Shiro and Allura were glaring down at him with their arms crossed like disappointed parents.

"I'm sorry," Lance croaked after what felt like minutes of silence.

"Sorry!?" Allura barked, "Do you realize how much drama you caused!? We had to stop the game completely thanks to you!"

Shiro rested a hand on the cheerleader's shoulder, "At least he wasn't hurt."

Allura scoffed, "Are you joking?! Aren't you mad?!"

"Of course I am, " Shiro replied turning to Lance, "I'm disappointed in you Lance."

Lance winced and refused to meet his captain's eyes, "I'm sorry."

"This was extremely irresponsible of you Lance," Shiro said, "And on the night we have so many scouts in the crowd. All of the seniors whose college career depends on them being accepted through football are extremely anxious. And it's such a waste."

Lance nodded, "I know, I shouldn't have thrown everybody's future in the trash like that but—"

"I'm not talking about them Lance, " the captain corrected, "I'm talking about _you_."

Lance looked up his blue eyes slightly wide. He was speechless. Allura looked speechless as well.

"You're a great player Lance. You wouldn't be on Varsity as a sophomore if you weren't. However, you lack so much maturity that if it weren't for your skills, you might not even be on this team."

Ouch. That was harsh, Shiro realized as he saw Lance's expression deflate. Shiro ran a hand through his hair and turned to Allura. She looked tired, some of her makeup had smeared and her bow was crooked. The cheerleader was nodding off and the captain had to place a hand on her shoulder to wake her up.

"I can't put him back in the game, but I have to go back. Can you watch him?"

Allura nodded tiredly and rubbed her eyes smearing her run down makeup even more. How did she manage to look so good even with smeared makeup? She was certainly other worldly.

Shiro leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "Make him feel better."

Allura nodded, "I will."

**_Unknown Number: xxx-xxx-9749_ **

**_Sent: 10:05 am EST_ **

**_Hey Shiro, it's Allura! Lance gave me your number btw. I was wondering if we could meet up at the diner for lunch? Let me know!_ **

When the senior had first received the message he couldn't believe his eyes. Allura texted him? Why was Shiro suddenly filled with warmth?

**_Sure. How does 1 sound?_ **

He pressed send and added her to his contacts.

**Allura**

**Sent: 10:07 am EST**

**_Alright! See you then! ;)_ **

Shiro wanted to hide the blush that had swallowed his entire face but it was to no avail. Keith had already seen it.

"What's with that face?" Keith commented, hand on one hip, a mug of coffee in the other. He was already dressed for the day but his bedhead was still present.

"What's with your hair?" Shiro shot back.

"Fair point," his little brother said as he took a sip of his coffee, "But I'll have you know my beautiful hair takes some time."

"Uh-huh," Shiro teased, "Whatever you say mullet-head."

"Whatever under-cut," Keith stuck out his tongue a huge teasing smile on his face.

"Hey, Keith? I'm going to the diner today for lunch. Want me to bring you something from there?"

Keith shrugged, "How about those macarons they sell?"

"Sure, yeah," Shiro smiled.

It's things like these that always made Shiro believe Keith would be okay if he left Altea for college. But it just occurred to him that perhaps, moments like this are just part of a long list of things that Keith will miss. The solemn expression on Keith signified that he too was thinking the same thing.

Shiro fidgeted with his hands as he sat down at a table waiting for Allura. It was only 12:50 and Allura wasn't expected to come until 1, but he was still anxious. It must be because he finds her attractive, Shiro told himself. All throughout high school tons of girls had thrown themselves at Shiro but he has never paid any of them attention. And not one was as beautiful as Allura.

A waitress came up to Shiro asking if he'd like to order. The black-haired teen told her he's waiting for somebody.

Suddenly somebody slipped into the booth across from him. Long dyed silver hair and beautiful skin the color of chocolate. Shiro looked up to meet Allura's glowing face.

She was wearing her black cheer shirt and gym shorts. There was a bag next to her indicating that she had just come from cheer practice. Shiro smiled back at her.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

The two are silent for a few moments just staring at each other, from attraction or uncertainty neither knew. And neither of them thought they were not attractive. Especially not in the black muscle tee that showed off Shiro's muscular arms and certainly not with how perfectly sculpted Allura looked in such loosely fitted clothes.

"So..." Allura said twirling a loose strand of her gorgeous locks, "About last night..."

"Yeah, how's Lance?"

"He's doing better now," Allura responded, "He's really sorrowful about what he did."

The waitress came in and took their orders. They both ordered milkshakes and fries.

"I can imagine," Shiro said, "All the seniors were bitchin' about him last night."

Allura nodded and blue eyes met gray for a brief moment.

"Did Keith tell you anything about what happened last night?" she asked.

Shiro shook his head, "No, but he was acting strangely. I just assumed it’s because he is blaming himself for the mess."

"Because Lance defended him?" Allura asked.

Shiro shook his head, "No, because Keith held him back but Lance still managed to punch the guy— wait, Lance was defending Keith?"

"Yeah, Lance told me everything last night. Apparently, Lance knows the guy he punched all too well. At Galra Academy he's known as Prince Lotor because he's the best at every sport. They were in a summer camp together last year."

"Really?" Shiro asked as the waitress gave them their milkshakes.

"Really," Allura responded, "They were even friends for a while after that..." Allura paused for a brief second, "I think they were possibly something even more."

Shiro eyes widened, "What happened?"

"Well long story short, Lotor's a jerk, Lance found out and now they're sworn enemies. Anyways, the night of the game, Lotor pushed Keith over and began taunting him saying all kinds of racial slurs... he didn't go too much into detail but Lance got mad at him and well, the rest is history."

"I suppose so," Shiro responded dumbfounded by the news he had received. Well, that was certainly a plot twist and definitely justified Lance's actions.

"I would've punched the guy too," Shiro answered, "Nobody taunts my little brother."

Allura laughed as she took a sip of her milkshake, "I would've too, but perhaps not on the field."

The bell chimed and chaos trickled into the diner. A group of boys in matching soccer shirts were being rowdy laughing and fooling around as they got a table across from the two seniors.

Allura stressfully leaned forward and ran her hands through her head, avoiding eye contact with the group. Shiro side-eyed the group of rowdy soccer players. Were they the same ones who harassed Allura the other day? Shiro didn't recognize any of them. Even so, they definitely had bothered her before.

Shiro coughed, and whispered, "Ignore them, look at me."

Allura's eyes met Shiro and she nodded. Immediately her shoulders relaxed. Shiro offered his hand to her and she gladly took it. He knows that Allura doesn't need any protecting, she's completely capable of handling it by herself but the wrongness of what some of the boys do to her makes him want to hold her close and keep her away from harm.

Allura's fingers are loosely twined with Shiro's when the first guy came up to their table. He's a tall guy with blonde curly hair and violet-like eyes. He had a vicious smirk on his face.

"Hey," he said looking right at Allura with predatory eyes, "Fancy meeting you here."

Allura shifted uncomfortably in her seat and glared at the guy, "What do you want Brian?" she snapped.

"Oh, I was just looking for a pretty girl to eat lunch with and you just happen to be the prettiest girl in our vicinity," Brian winked.

"Yeah," another guy with long brown hair agreed, "We think you'd be great company."

Allura rolled her eyes, "Leave me alone, alright? The last time you guys invited me to do something with you _this_ one," Allura jabbed a finger into Brian's abdomen, "Tried to get me alone for reasons I knew were not as innocent as you claimed."

Brian's smirk deepened as he turned to his friend, "Well what can I say? You're fucking hot."

Allura stood up and slapped Brian's face. It felt like the entire restaurant fell silent as Brian's confident persona crumbled before everybody. His friend was wide-eyed and the rest of the boys looked anxious.

Shiro took it as his opportunity to dispute the conflict. Shiro stood up and looked at Allura waiting for her eyes to meet his. The black girl was panting from all of the bottled up emotions she had suddenly let out. Shiro smiled as he squeezed her hand.

"I think that's your cue to leave," Shiro smiled bitterly, "And I'd take this as a fair warning for the future, don't bother Allura anymore."

"Or what?" Brian spat out.

"You realize this is sexual harassment? I can report you and get you not only kicked off of the soccer team but you'll also lose your scholarship to Penn State."

Brian let out a frustrated groan and turned to his teammates, "Let's sit somewhere else. Her boyfriend is a psychopath."

Shiro laughed at that comment. _Yes_ , he's the psychopath alright. The group of boys leave and the tension dissipates. Allura relaxed and sighed in relief. Shiro decided to take a risk and ask her something that's been bothering him.

"Do you know why all these guys are doing this?" Shiro asked.

Allura shrugged, "I have no idea. My best bet is that it's some running joke. Or these guys are really just assholes."

"You know you should slap those jerks more often. That'll get them to back off."

Allura shook her head sadly, "Trust me it doesn't work. They might not come back but others will come after me. It happens so often that I sorta gave up."

Shiro watched as Allura took a sip of her milkshake. Her plump lips were in a firm line and her eyes looked vacant as if she knows that there's nothing that can be done. Shiro's heart ached to see that wholesome smile of his friend again.

At that very moment, Shiro vowed to never let anybody taint Allura's or any other girl's soul again.

The entire football was buzzing as they gathered into the cramped weight room. It'll be the first time in weeks that all 3 levels of Voltron High's football team would be having a practice together. Teammates that had been separated due to levels reunited and excitedly chattered as they filed into the room. Freshman on JV welcomed the Freshman on the Freshman team and saved a spot by the weights for them. Keith and the other sophomores hung by the treadmills taking selfies while Hunk was proudly giving them his famous homemade diet cookies. The juniors were already working out, and the seniors were lazily hanging out in a corner ready to yell at any underclassmen not working out (the irony). With everybody together, it was the perfect time for Shiro to address something important.

Shiro clapped his hands to grab everybody's attention. Since the room was so loud he stood up on a bench and yelled, "May I have your attention please?"

The room slowly quieted down as some of the captain's teammates began to gather around him.

"There's something extremely important I need to address here. We are a team representing Voltron. What you do on the field and off the field affects our reputation as a team. Now as far as teams go, our nine year, hopefully ten-year streak of winning the states championships shows everybody we're one of the best teams in all of Maryland. However, our records doesn't mean shit if we are not respectable young men off the field."

All of the boys looked at each other seeking for an answer. The confusion was written across all of their faces. _What happened?_

"Now you don't have to be as great of a student as you are an athlete, but you have to have a good heart."

Shiro's eyes drifted over to his friends who nod encouragingly. Shiro took a deep breath trying not to let his emotions take over.

"Now I know that lots of you guys love girls. It's completely fine to like a girl, however you must be respectful."

Matt and Justin's eyes widen as they catch on to what Shiro's talking about.

"Girls are not to be toyed with. They are people with feelings just like you and I. You do not harass them if they reject you. And you certainly do not make bets with them. Most importantly, you don't play with their feelings as if it is some joke."

People are starting to catch on to what Shiro was referring to.

"I have been made aware of that there is a trend in flirting with a senior as a joke. She was already uncomfortable with the unwanted attention but now there are groups of boys harassing her constantly. Now, I'm not saying any of you did this. What I'm saying is that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and sexual harassment is not only damaging to you but also the team in general. Please think about your actions."

Hunk shared a look with Lance before cautiously raising his hand. Shiro allowed Hunk to speak.

"A-Are you talking about what's going on with Lance's cousin Allura?"

Murmurs began to spread like wildfire across the room. People were on edge. Of course they were. Some people were involved in this.

"Yes," Shiro answered, "Yes Hunk, this is about Allura, I'd like all of you guys to stop harassing her."

A junior laughed, "Seriously? It's a fucking joke man, no harm done."

"A joke?" Lance scoffed, "Do you think pressuring my cousin into having sex is some sort of joke?"

"Yeah," Keith agreed, "It's not funny. It's disgusting."

"So?" the junior countered, "A few guys are a bit insane but she doesn't care."

"She does," Shiro interrupted, "And Keith is right, it's disgusting that you guys are doing this to her."

"Alright," the junior said, "Tell me this Shiro, why are you so bothered?"

"Yeah," one of his friends taunted, 'Why are you so bothered?"

Shiro's face reddened and he found himself speechless. Why was he so bothered? Surely, Allura's problems had nothing to do with him. But then he saw Lance's face, disturbed and pale because the person of interest was his cousin and Shiro realized he did have something to do with it. He had everything to do with it. For it was the right thing to do.

"C'mon, Shiro made his point. Are you seriously going against him?" Justin defended the captain.

"I'm not saying I'm going against the captain," the junior corrected, "I'm saying that this is dumber than dumb."

"Seriously? You're calling what my brother is saying dumber than dumb?" Shiro's little brother argued, "I'd like to see your GPA right now. I bet it's nothing like Shiro's!"

"Enough!" Shiro shouted before a fight could break out, "Keith, calm down."

"Whatever," Keith said still glaring at his fellow teammate.

"I wanna make a deal. Ask Allura out. If she says yes we'll stop." The junior suggested, with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Shiro froze. What kind of a deal was that?

"What?" Shiro said in disbelief.

"You heard me." The junior straightened up, "We'll leave Allura alone if you ask her out. I mean, you shouldn't be so against it since you like her so much."

"No," Shiro responded, "It's wrong."

"Aw c'mon—"

"No, we're done here. Everybody stretch and warm up before exercising," Shiro dismissed the group, "Make sure you partner up when you bench press."

Shiro shrugged as he came down the bench and began stretching. The captain did his best in trying to ignore his beating heart and flustered face. After a good stretch, Shiro decided he was ready to workout. He walked over to the weights and lifted a dumbbell. He began doing curl ups on both of his arms racking through his brain for what he had to do according to his regime. He did not notice Matt quietly watching from across the room. He ignored Keith's silent pleas to talk. He tried not to think about his teammate's words. But they have him shaken.

With a heavy sigh, Shiro rested the dumbbells back on the rack as he began rummaging for weights for the bench press. As he found the weights he wanted he felt a hand on his shoulder. Shiro turned around to find Matt smiling down at him.

"Want me to be your spot?" the brunet offered.

Shiro nodded, "While we're at it, you should also help me set up."

Matt nodded as he took some weights and aided Shiro in setting up the bench press. As they mounted the weights Matt asked Shiro, "Are you sure about this?"

"What?" Shiro asked.

"You know... I know it's wrong but think about it... they'll stop harassing Allura..."

Shiro froze, "Are you trying to get me to agree with such a nasty deal?"

Matt huffed, "I know, it's awful but listen Shiro, it might just work."

Shiro shook his head, "No. Absolutely not."

"C'mon!" Matt protested, "Think about Allura!"

"But how will we know they'll stop. Will she even say yes?"

Matt sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Please Shiro please. Do it for her. Take a leap of faith."

Shiro lowered his head," Alright, I'll do it."

Shiro's standing outside the girl's locker room waiting for Allura to come out. He's leaning against the chain-link fence the football team hiding behind their changing room, lurking to see the outcome of the event about to take place.

A group of cheerleaders leave and glance at Shiro before giggling among themselves. Shiro sighed exasperatedly, why did he agree to do this again? Right, because apparently to get boys to stop being idiots you have to make deals. Disgusting, vile deals that is. Allura probably wouldn't even say yes.

Allura came out in the middle of a call with somebody. Shiro hesitated to intercept her path.

"Do it!" somebody whispered.

Shiro turned around to see Matt and Justin giving him a thumbs up.

"Allura," Shiro said as he came up to her, "Hey."

Allura had just finished her call when she turned around and smiled, "Hey."

"Uh," Shiro scratched the back of his head, "I was wondering if...uh, you'd like to go out sometime?"

Allura tilted her head and smiled, "Are you asking me out, Shirogane Takashi?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Allura said, "Sure, I'll go out with you."

Shiro can hear somebody cheering in their hiding spot and it took every nerve in Shiro's body not to turn around and yell at them. He already felt guilty about using her like this and he'll do everything he can to not let her know.

"Great."

"Great," Allura said, "I'll see you, Shiro."

Shiro smiled relieved that she said yes and that the others will stop harassing her, "See you."

At lunch the next day, Shiro was peacefully enjoying his sandwich with Justin and Matt when Katie and Allura joined their table. Katie sat next to her older brother Matt, while Allura scooted into the seat next to Shiro.

"Hey," Allura said as she began taking out her can of soup from her lunch bag.

Shiro opened his mouth and almost dropped his sandwich. He was not expecting Allura to do such a thing.

"Allura, hey," Shiro greeted like an excited puppy, "W-why—?"

"Well, since we're dating now, wouldn't it make sense that I sit with my boyfriend?" Allura responded.

"Yeah, makes sense," Shiro nods as he takes a bite out of his sandwich. He ignores the flutter in his stomach as Allura calls him his boyfriend.

"Oh, look at him," Justin whispered loudly to Matt, "He's blushing."

"I can hear you," Shiro snapped, "And I'm not!"

Matt smirked as he turned to Justin, "He looks like a tomato."

"Stop," Shiro demanded as he angrily bit into his lunch.

Allura giggled, "Oh c'mon guys, stop teasing him," she scooted closer to Shiro and rested her head on her lover's shoulder, "His blush is cute."

Shiro's eyes widened and he turned to her, "Allura!"

The black girl smirked as she lifted her head and whispered into Shiro's ear, "Thank you."

Shiro blinked, "What are you talking about?"

"Matt told me what you did for me. So thank you," Allura's hand slipped into Shiro's and she intertwined them, "Let's keep this pretend dating up, shall we?"

Shiro opened his mouth flabbergasted by the sudden news. He quickly shut his mouth, realizing he had no words. He felt slightly disappointed that it was all pretend for some reason. But at the same time he was relieved he wasn't using Allura, even if it was for her own good. Shiro turned to Matt who winked at Shiro.

"Of course," Shiro said as he squeezed their intertwined hands.

Allura kissed his cheek and as Shiro tried not to combust, his friends roared at Allura's bold move.

October went by quickly, mostly uneventful. Voltron's football team continued their winning streak all the way to the state's championship, winning their tenth year in a row. Shiro finished his applications and sent them out to the colleges of his choice. Keith remained distant, still upset that Shiro was leaving. Lance was ecstatic that his captain was dating his cousin and constantly teased Shiro about it. But most importantly, Shiro and Allura kept up their fake relationship and quickly became known as Voltron's golden couple.

They were currently walking down the hallway hand in hand and everybody eyed them. Some were with admiration, others with envy. Shiro walked Allura to her locker and smiled once they reached it. The two paused, unsure where to go from there.

"So," Shiro said.

Allura blushed as she bit her lip and looked up at Shiro, "So, I just realized we've been dating for a month and we never have gone on a date."

Shiro nodded.

"How about this Saturday at my place? I live with my uncle and he'd love to whip out some of his famous meals for you to eat. It'll be fun."

"Okay."

"Okay," Allura smiled as she kissed Shiro's cheek, "I'll see you then."

"Can't wait," Shiro lifted their intertwined hands and kissed them before releasing them, "I gotta go. Love you, bye."

"Bye." Allura smiled.

Shiro nervously adjusted his varsity jacket as he walked up the porch that lead to Allura's. He took a deep breath as he rang the doorbell. Even though they aren't dating, whoever Allura's uncle was, he really hoped he'd like Shiro...

The door opened to reveal a middle-aged man with orange hair and a mustache in the same color. Upon the sight of Shiro the uncle smiled.

"Hey Shiro."

"Coach Coran?" A small world this is. Allura's uncle is his coach!

Allura pushed her uncle away and Shiro almost gasped. Allura looked stunning. She wore a white tank top with jean shorts. Her dyed hair was flowing down her back and bounced around with her movements. Her blue eyes sparkled upon the sight of Shiro.

"Hey," Allura grabbed Shiro's hand and pulled him inside, "Uncle this is my boyfriend Shiro."

"Why didn't you tell me your uncle is my coach?" Shiro whispered.

Allura smiled innocently and shrugged, "Didn't think it was important." She winked as she gestured to her house, "So, what do you think?"

"You have a nice home," Shiro commented and Allura hummed in response. Allura continued to guide Shiro down the hallway accented with frames until they reached a living room in dark blue with black leather couches, a marble coffee table and a sleek 90-inch curved TV mounted onto a wall. Allura took a seat on the couch and released Shiro's hand. Shiro quickly followed Allura's example and sat down on the couch. Allura smiled as she kicked up her feet and rested them on the coffee table. Coran came into the room and eyed Allura's feet with discomfort but turned to Shiro with a bright smile.

"I'm still making dinner, Shirogane. Make yourself comfortable," Coran said before leaving.

Allura removed her feet off the coffee and scooted closer to Shiro. Shiro found himself blushing as Allura pulled back a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her own cheeks looked rosy as she smiled up at the captain.

"Thanks for coming," Allura said.

"Thanks for inviting me," Shiro responded as he turned to the table next to him. There were photographs of Allura through all stages of her life. There were photos of her as a child with her parents. There were photos of her holding up trophies. There were even photos of her and her cousin Lance. One that caught his attention was one that looked like it was taken when Allura was in her early teens and Lance was still a little kid. They're at the beach, and Allura has her natural hair color in pigtails. In this photo she's taller than Lance and is in the middle of laughing. In her hands is a bucket being poured down onto her uncle Coran. Next to her is Lance, who barely reaches Allura's shoulder at the time. His face was chubby and he too looked like he was laughing as he held a conch shell in his hand.

"Ah," Allura said looking over Shiro's shoulder, "That was the time Coran took us to beach." She smiled fondly, "We were playing with the sand and collecting shells and ended up burying him, adorning it with the seashells we found." Allura picked up the frame and smiled, "Father took that picture."

"How come you live with your uncle?"Shiro asked.

"Well Alfor, my father, is a busy man and frequently travels. His step-brother Coran, is very close to him and never married or had kids so he entrusts me to Coran when he's away," Allura answers with a shrug and a frown, "I miss him. Hopefully when I go to Boston for college I can see him more often. He frequently goes there for his work."

"You're going to Boston for college?" Shiro perked up, "So am I!"

Allura's eyes widen and she excited clasps her hand together in that cute flirtatious way Shiro had learned she had in the past month. She blinks at the grey eyes of Shiro and she asks," What college?"

"Harvard." Shiro hoped that his amazing football skills would earn him scholarship as well.

"I'm aiming for Harvard too!' Allura admitted, "I just sent my application last week."

The two excitedly chat about their future plans. Allura wanted to become a politician and eventually the president of the United States. Shiro wanted to study computer science.

"Dinner is ready!" Coran called out as Coran placed lobster onto the table. The two promptly stand up and head over. As they entered, Shiro's eyes widened in shock. He _loved_ seafood.

The three sit at the table and dig in.

"How are you liking the food Shiro?" Coran asked.

"It's really good!" Shiro said, "Thank you!"

Coran chuckled as he continued eating, "You know, ever since you two have known each other Allura never stopped talking about you."

"Uncle!" Allura blushed as she playfully swatted her uncle.

"It's true, she talks about you everyday. You're practically a lifesaver."

Shiro finds himself blushing, his heart pounding with joy. Did Allura really do that?

"Well...ever since we started dating, the boys have stopped harassing me...so, thank you Shiro."

After dinner the two settle back onto the leather couch and play a movie. It's an action movie that Allura said was really good. Allura curled up against Shiro as Shiro wrapped an arm around her.

"Oh this is my favorite part!" Allura mused, "The lovers are finally reunited!"

Shiro looked down to find Allura smiling back up. Why is he so in love with Allura? Is it because of that smile? Her beautiful complexion? Or is it just fate that she's the most beautiful girl in the world. Shiro cups his friend's face and pulls her in for a short and sweet kiss. Allura immediately reciprocates, hands running through Shiro's hair. Shiro never finds out why Allura liked the scene too much, he was too focused on the feel of her lips against his own.

“—and as our final game begins. I want to let you all know that it's been a pleasure working with all of you guys. These past four years have been great." Shiro concluded his speech and everybody clapped, "I'll miss you all."

As Matt and Justin pat Shiro's back, it suddenly hits him that this it. His last game as a lion. Where has the time gone? Shiro smiled at his best friend's but refused to look them in the eye. He might cry otherwise. His eyes met Keith and Keith smiled, giving his brother a thumbs up.

"Congratulations, Shiro!" Hunk called out, his arm slung over Lance's, 'We'll take care of your team, we will!"

As the seniors head out to do a final group hug, Lance ran up to Shiro and held out his hand.

"I'm going to miss you, Shiro," Lance admitted, "It won't be the same."

Shiro smiled as he took Lance's hand, "I know you'll do great. Good luck out there!"

The crowd is going crazy as Voltron scores yet another point. It's probably the best game they've had all year. Shiro can confirm his suspicions by the viscous smiles on everybody's faces. The cheerleaders are cheering, signs that the underclassman made for the senior football players and cheerleaders shining behind them. Shiro knew that somebody purposefully decorated it so that all of Shiro and Allura's farewell signs were next to each other. Thinking of her, he smiled and glanced at Allura. She was wearing a jersey with Shiro's number on it, again definitely not a coincidence. Ever since they've been 'dating' Allura just so happens to have Shiro's number during her rallies. At first it was endearing, but it felt awkward now. It had only been last week, when Shiro's been over at Allura's and the kiss, and they haven't discussed it. In fact, the atmosphere between them has gotten stale since the kiss. Shiro has been wanting to discuss it, but it seemed like fate had other plans.

Half time was called and the marching band assembled to perform for everybody. Shiro and the rest of the team head to the side and take a well-deserved break. Matt patted his back encouragingly before heading over to the fence and talk to Katie who is excitedly calling out to him. Shiro was able to make from the corner of his eye that Matt’s younger sister was hugging him before Justin attacked Shiro from behind.

"Great game wasn't it?" Justin sighed out loud and punched his best friend's shoulder, "I'm gonna miss working with you."

Shiro laughed, "I can't wait to kick your ass in college."

"Oh shit," Justin gasped mockingly, "We're all gonna lose to you."

Just then there's a shriek and the two seniors whip their head around to find that one of members of the band, a petite girl with blonde braids, flute had fallen and a player on the other team had accidentally stepped on it, bending it awkwardly. Shiro's heart felt sorry for the poor girl, that poor instrument must cost a lot and she must've loved it dearly after putting so much work into it. Before anybody can react Keith yelled out.

"Hey!" his little brother stormed to the other player. He looked ready to fight. The marching band girl looked ready to cry and ran over to Keith, hiding behind him. Keith began to argue with the player, most likely demanding an apology but the player refused. It looked like it was only going to get worse if it continued.

"Keith!" Shiro called out as he began to run over towards the group. He knew he had to break up the fight before they get a repeat of what happened with Lance and Lotor again. Shiro sprinted as fast as he could but it was already too late, the player had pushed Keith to the ground, the band girl shrieking in fear. The player raised a fist, but suddenly, like lightning Lance was in front of Keith and took the blow. Shiro's feet finally picked up the pace, adrenaline kicking in as he raced over to Lance's side.

"Are you alright?" Shiro helped his teammate up and Lance groaned.

"Lance!" Allura was suddenly by Shiro's side as she gracefully took Lance from Shiro. The paramedics came in and escorted the cousins away. Shiro turned to his little brother who was still on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Shiro asked as he held out his hand to Keith.

Keith nodded a little stunned as he took the hand, "What-what happened to Lance?"

"He took the blow for you. Not sure if he's okay. They're checking on him now."

"I have to see him—" Shiro's arm intercepted Keith's path.

"Not yet," Shiro said, "It's half-time, let's go to the locker room and wait."

About five minutes later Lance, guided by Allura, came into the locker room. The cornerback had an ice-pack on his face and was wincing in pain. As Allura laid down a groaning Lance she gave Shiro an irritated look. _Again._

"He thankfully doesn't have a concussion but he will walk out with a black eye and uh, he's done for tonight," Allura informed Shiro as Keith rubbed his teammate's back.

"Shit," Shiro cussed as he ran his hands through his hair, "Keith, why the fuck did you do that?"

"The guy purposefully broke her flute!" Keith growled, his eyebrows raising in anger, "She was walking and accidentally dropped it, it rolled over to him and he _laughed_ as he smashed it with his foot. The girl looked ready to cry, I-I had to do something!"

"But you do not have to be so rash!" Shiro yelled, making Lance whine from his headache, "Look at Lance! That could've been you! Keith you need to have more self-control, I'm not going to be here to keep you in check for long!"

Keith stood up and snapped, "Well, maybe you shouldn't worry about me so much since you're leaving!"

Shiro found his voice had caught in his throat, leaving him unable to say anything. Keith took it as his cue to storm out of the room.

"Keith!" Shiro called out and began to go after him but Allura's arm blocked him.

"I'll talk to him," Allura winked, "Comfort my cousin, he seems to be in pain."

She dashed out after Shiro's little brother leaving him alone with Lance. He turned to his injured teammate. They locked eyes and Shiro smiles sympathetically before taking a seat next to Lance on the bench. Lance side glanced at his captain but didn't speak.

"You'll be alright," Shiro assured, "Just be glad it's not a concussion."

"I hope not," Lance sighed, "I've got basketball coming up."

Shiro smiled and ruffled Lance's hair, "That's the spirit. Aiming for varsity this year? I'm sure you'll make it."

Lance's personality came flooding back to him as he smirked and straightened his posture as if he was trying to make himself macho, "I don't need to worry about that. _I_ was on varsity as a freshman."

Shiro's impressed. One would have to be really good at their sport to be on varsity as a freshman, coaches usually favored upperclassmen. And even though Shiro was a freshman when he got onto varsity, football has been the only sport he's ever played in high school. The fact that Lance is only a sophomore and is on varsity for two sports was remarkable.

"That's amazing," Shiro complimented and Lance's face lit up.

"It is?" he said, his face a bit red, "I mean it'll never be impressive as you, my records as a freshman don't even compare. I was probably the worst on the team—"

Shiro laid a hand on Lance's shoulder and smiled at his teammate. The brunette stopped mid-sentence and looked up at upperclassman, his blue eyes reflected the dim lights of the locker room. The senior didn't say anything to his underclassman, he just comforted Lance, for that's what he needed at the moment.

Keith and Allura come back in, a wide smile on Allura's face as Keith came in looking calmer than before.

"Alright," Shiro stood up brushing off his pants as he walked out, "Let's finish this game."

The roaring cheers of his teammates still pounded in his ears as he and Keith walked to the car. After the game, everybody had a short celebration at the diner, and it was the rowdiest night Shiro's ever experienced. Everybody was chanting and singing along to songs as they ate. There were several pictures taken, several gifts presented, and tears shed. Shiro's glad that it's all over, but at the same time knows that he's going to miss his team. It won't be the same.

As soon as they exited the diner, Keith had grown quiet. He miserably followed his older brother to the car and crossed his arms as soon as he settled into the passenger seat. _Sophomores_. Shiro rolled his eyes, why were they so dramatic? As they drove, Keith refused to let up his brooding, so Shiro took it into his own hands to lighten the mood.

"Hey," Shiro playfully punched his brother's shoulder, "What's it feel like to be the fastest guy on the team?"

"Leave me alone," Keith mumbled in response. _Okay_.

Shiro sighed as he turned to Keith, "What's wrong now?"

Keith clenched his teeth as he turned away, "I don't want to talk right now."

"C'mon Keith, you're acting like a child—"

"And you're acting selfish!" Keith snapped, "In a few months you'll be gone and away in Boston and yet you're acting like you still care about me."

"That's because I do, Keith—"

"No, you don't," Keith interrupted, his eyes meeting Shiro's with ferocity, "Because if you did, you wouldn't have even considered leaving, knowing how much I need you."

Shiro turned off the engine of the car and turned to his little brother, "Keith, I never—"

Keith unbuckled his belt and stormed out of the car and into their house without a word. Shiro frustratingly whacked the steering wheel before gathering his stuff and headed inside. By the time Shiro got inside, he can hear Keith's door shutting, and their dad yelling at Keith to not shut doors so loudly. Once Keith was in his room, there was no use in trying to coax him out. Shiro placed his keys onto the key rack and rested the rest of his stuff on the counter.

"Shiro?" Shiro's mother called out, "Are you home?"

"Yup," Shiro responded as he took off his shoes, "I'll be up in a minute."

"Alright dear, we'll be waiting."

Shiro groggily walked up the stairs and failed to notice his parents standing right in front of him. He scratched his head, feeling the white dye from his undercut fading away. He'll need to re-dye it soon. Shiro looked up and stopped abruptly.

His parents were excitedly holding balloons and a box wrapped. They were smiling at their son with so much pride Shiro felt himself get emotional.

"Mom, Dad," Shiro said, "You didn't have to do this."

"But you deserve it sweetie," his mom smiled as she came up to kiss him. Shiro had to bend down to let her lips graze his cheek because he was so tall and she was so short, "We're so proud of you."

"Your graduation is just as important to us as it is to you Shiro. And we couldn't be any prouder of you," his father said with a smile.

"You guys," Shiro smiled as he graciously took his present. He unwrapped the box to find a new pair of wireless headphones. The headphones are black and sleek with red accents, "Thank you."

His mother kissed his cheek again and stretched her limbs, "Alright well it's past your father's and I bedtime. Don't go to sleep too late honey."

"I won't," Shiro promised as he looked down at the present he had just received, "Goodnight."

"Night dear."

As soon as his parents retreated into their bedroom, Shiro knocked on Keith's door.

"Keith, would you like to have a shot at these new headphones?" Shiro asked, "They're the latest model."

No response came from the other side of the door. Shiro sighed as he entered his own room and set the headphones on his desk. Shiro plopped onto his bed and massaged his temples. What is he going to do with Keith? Suddenly his phone rang. Shiro looked down at his screen to see he had received a message from Allura.

**Allura**

**Sent 1:03 am EST**

**_Hey, everything alright?_ **

Shiro smiled.

**_Keith refuses to talk to me but he'll come around. You?_ **

**Allura**

**Sent 1:04 am EST**

**_I was just thinking..._ **

Shiro's eyes widened as he stared at his screen.

**_Thinking...?_ **

**Allura**

**Sent 1:06 EST**

**_Well, it's nothing really. Just about us. The kiss.._ **

Is this finally the conversation they're going to have about the kiss?

**_Shiro, please be honest with me... Are we actually pretending to date? Or does this, us, mean something to you._ **

Shiro stared at his screen unsure what to say. Yes, they were pretending to date, but Shiro has come to the conclusion that he did have feelings for awhile now. That kiss only confirmed it. Shiro took a deep breath before replying.

**_I like you Allura._ **

Shiro sent the risky text with his heart threatening to come out of his chest. He was nervous. He wasn't sure how this will go. How would Allura respond? Did she feel the same way? Allura took so long to respond that Shiro began to worry. Did she fall asleep? Or is she ignoring him?

**Allura**

**1:20 am EST**

**_I like you too Shiro._ **

Shiro felt like his heart was lifted and he smiled in disbelief.

**_Come over. I want to see you say that to my face._ **

**Allura 1:22 am EST**

**_What?! No it's almost 2 in the morning!_ **

Shiro chuckled. Knowing her, was probably staring at her screen, her plump lips pursed in annoyance and her brows scrunched together.

**_I know, I'm joking. How about you come over in the afternoon?_ **

**Allura**

**1:23 am EST**

**_Okay. Can’t wait :)_ **

Shiro stood at the steps to Allura's house and knocked on the door. Allura opened the door, her white hair pulled back into a ponytail and her dark skin glowing. She was blushing a bit as she let Shiro in.

"Hey," Shiro said.

"Hey."

The two settled onto the couch, a few inches between them as they sat in silence. Neither of them knew what to do.

"So..." Allura began.

Shiro chuckled, "We're terrible aren't we?"

Allura giggled, "We really are." She scooted closer to Shiro, blue eyes sparkling as she said, "Come here."

Shiro complied as Allura threaded her hands through Shiro's hair. She seemed to be really curious about exploring Shiro, as if she has been wanting to for awhile.

"Your hair is so soft," Allura said as she tugged on the dyed-white bangs, "Even the dyed parts of your hair."

"Yours is too," Shiro replied as he took a strand of Allura's long hair and twirled it in his finger tips.

Allura's hand drifted down Shiro's face, feeling everything. His cheeks, with acne scars, his greasy forehead, his eyebrows, and even the small thin scar he had across his nose that he got while fooling around as a little kid. Allura continued exploring, tracing his jawline and the curves of his collarbone making him chuckle a bit.

"That tickles," Shiro chuckled.

Allura hummed in response as her hands slid down Shiro's arms before intertwining them. Blue eyes met gray before Allura's lips crashed against Shiro's. Shiro immediately kissed her back with the same intensity, holding her waist as she ran her hands through Shiro's hair again. She leaned back dragging Shiro with her as they laid on the couch. Allura prodded Shiro's mouth with her tongue asking for permission and Shiro granted it, accepting the sweet citrus taste of Allura.

They pulled apart, Allura’s eyes lidded with lust from the intense kiss.

“Wow,” she said after a few moments.

“Again?”

She smashed her lips against Shiro once more, straddling his lap as she ran her hands through his hair. Shiro held onto Allura’s waist as if she would fade away if he released her. Allura chuckled through the kiss and Shiro pulled away.

“What’s so funny?”

Allura, with tears in her eyes shook her head as she wiped them away. She struggled to get words out from her laughter, “Nothing, I’m just happy.”

Shiro blushed as he looked up at Allura. He pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled. “I am too.”

Their lips meet again.

The bruising on Lance's face had subsided to a sickly green. It was so faded, that it had reached the point that only those who looked hard can see the bruise contrast from the rest of Lance's dark skin. He had on his face his trademark devilish smirk. He was hanging out by the lockers, rambling on about whatever while his best friend Hunk hid behind his locker, munching on the cookies he had baked the other night. Shiro hated to interrupt their conversation but he had something important to talk about with Lance. The senior strolled over to the boys and the two immediately waved, welcoming him into the conversation.

"Hey Shiro," Lance smiled, "How's it going?"

"Shiro!' Hunk exclaimed, "How are you?"

Shiro smiled sheepishly, "I'm good, thanks for asking." He turned to Lance, "Can we talk?"

Lance nodded, "Yeah of course. I'll talk to you later Hunk."

"Bye," Hunk waved as he watched Shiro lead Lance to an empty classroom.

"What do you want to talk about?" Lance asked, he seemed a bit jittery. He was bouncing a bit and he looked like he was trying to act casual when his red face told another story. His smile formed into a smirk, "If it's about Allura, I already know."

Shiro crossed his arms a soft smile on his face as he replied, "Not exactly, but I figured you'd already know by this point anyways."

“Oh, what is it then?” Lance asked.

“It’s about the other night. You know, the one where you got your,” Shiro pointed to his eye where Lance’s bruise would be.

“Oh...right…” Lance bowed his head.

“That was extremely irresponsible of you Lance, you could’ve gotten a concussion. And I know you really like basketball. Imagine not being able to play this season because of that.”

“I know.”

“And that was so impulsive, I mean Keith can be impulsive as well but the level of impulsiveness _you_ had, I don’t think even Keith can match it.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “I think you’re forgetting who’s the one who started it.”

Lance walked away, leaving Shiro alone. Shiro sighed as he face palmed. _Too far._

"What's wrong?" Allura asked, her head perched in between her two hands as she leaned over the table at the diner.

"It's..."Shiro shook his head waving her off, "It's okay, I'm just moody."

Allura doesn't believe him. She smiled sympathetically as she took his hands caressing them softly with her thumb, "Come on, Shiro, you have to open up!"

Shiro smiled, "It's a lot, I'd rather not trouble you."

"You can never trouble me, c'mon, spill."

"Alright, alright," Shiro sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "Keith...he's not talking to me anymore..."

Allura raised an eyebrow, "Is this because you're not staying in Altea for college?"

"Yes," Shiro answered, "My brother and I are super close and I guess he's not ready for me to leave..."

"I see..." Allura's expression turned pensive, "Lance isn't happy about me leaving either so I understand..." she straightened herself up and smiled reassuringly, "Keith will come around just give him some time."

"I hope so," Shiro sighed, "Speaking of Lance...I think he's mad at me."

"Lance?" Allura looked shocked, "Why would my cousin be mad?"

Images of the conversation they had flashed through his mind, "I condemned him for his rash actions recently and then he snapped at me. He told me that Keith is just as rash as him and that it's unfair that Keith walks away unscathed for his actions. "

Allura shook her head, "Lance had always come across as a laid back person but when it comes to protecting people he's always been rash. I can tell Lance cares for Keith and that everything rash he's ever done in the past few months were because he was protecting Keith." she indicated her eye, the one where her cousin had developed a black eye from Senior Night, "Even if it meant hurting himself."

Shiro smiled, "I guess."

"You know what I think you should do?" Allura suggested, "Talk to them. Both of them. Tell Lance and Keith your feelings and let them express theirs. It'll help you resolve everything."

"Right," Shiro responded taking a sip of his newly arrived milkshake, "Thanks."

Across from him, his girlfriend gave him an incredulous look. She had an eyebrow raised, her blue eyes studying Shiro as she churned her milkshake. "I mean it Shiro. Talk to them."

"Alright," Shiro chuckled, "I'll do it. For you."

"Don't do it for me," Allura mumbled as she lifted her shake and took a sip. "Do it for _yourself_."


	2. Winter

As Shiro pulled up to the parking lot by his school's gym, Shiro checked the time on his phone. 7:00. Great, he's right on time. He looked down at his unread texts from Justin and Matt asking about the date he had earlier with Allura as he waited for Keith to come out. There were other cars parked in the lot, some belonged to seniors and juniors or belonged to parents waiting for their kids to come out. Shiro was still a bit surprised that Keith had taken up basketball. When Keith texted him that he needed to be picked up after try-outs, Shiro had sent a boat load of messages that were all left on read.

Under the street lamp, the gym door bursted open and tired, sweaty basketball players piled out. Keith emerged from that group and immediately spotted Shiro's car and walked over, without even glancing at Shiro. Okay, Shiro took a deep breath. Remember what Allura told you. Just talk to him.

"How was try-outs?" Shiro asked as Keith opened the door and climbed inside.

"Fine," Keith shrugged taking out his phone and paying more attention to that rather than Shiro.

Shiro chuckled, "You know, I'm surprised you decided to do basketball...what brought this on?" The senior turned to his brother to be disappointed that Keith was completely ignoring him. Keith was on his phone, most likely talking with somebody and Shiro wonder what conversation was Keith having through texts could be so important that he's willing to ignore his brother?

They rode the rest of the ride back home in silence, aside from the low volume music that played from the radio. Keith didn't look up from his phone once. Finally the car parked in their driveway and the two get out of the car. Shiro opened the door and settled his things on the counter, getting ready to go upstairs and take a well deserved nap before doing homework. However he was stopped before he had the opportunity to do so.

"Shiro," Keith said amidst the silence.

"Yes?" Shiro asked.

"You...told me that I needed to make new friends," Keith confessed, "So..."

Shiro smiled. Perhaps time had already begun to heal Keith's wound. He patted Keith's back as he headed upstairs, "Atta boy." Perhaps it wasn't the talk they needed but at least they were getting somewhere.

November came and went and so did the Christmas season. And when the Christmas season came by, so did the bone-chilling temperatures and snow. While Christmas came and went, the snow lingered into the new year. 

Shiro and Allura are still together. They had the best Christmas date on Christmas eve. Allura had given Shiro a new phone case with an ugly sweater while he gave Allura a beautiful pendant chain with pink and white rhinestones shaped in the form of a teardrop. Allura hasn't taken it off since given to her. Keith made it onto the basketball team and seemed to be playing well. He was happy, although he refused to say what level he’s on. Shiro assumed he’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to say it.

Shiro trudged down the snowy path of his yard, his school's sweatshirt shrugged on and a cup of coffee in his hand as he approached the mailbox. Shiro opened the box and retrieved the various letters inside, shifting through the mail as he returned to warmth of his home. As he entered the kitchen his eyes fell upon one particular letter addressed to him. It was from the local university Shiro had applied to. Across from him sat Keith, nibbling on some toast and eyeing Shiro from afar.

"Is that...?" his little brother asked.

"Yes," Shiro answered, "From the local university."

He opened the letter and found that he has been accepted, "I'm in."

Keith smiled sadly, looking down at his phone as he muttered, "Congrats."

"Keith..." Shiro whispered, calling out to him but Keith's already lost in his world on the phone. Why is Keith on his phone so much? Shiro decided not to comment, instead deciding to text Allura the news.

**_I got into the local university!_ **

**Allura 10:00 am EST**

**_Me too! Congrats!_ **

Shiro smiled as he replied back.

**_Now let's see if we can get into Harvard! I know we can do it!_ **

**Allura 10:03 am EST**

**_You should come over to celebrate. How about it?_ **

**_Alright. Be there in half an hour._ **

"Keith," Shiro said as he grabbed his keys, "I'm going over to Allura's."

"Okay," Keith replied blatantly. 

When Allura invited Shiro over, he had no idea who was going to be there too. He was happily chatting with Allura over his excitement of the post-high school life when he entered the kitchen, meeting the eyes of Lance. He was sitting at the table eating breakfast and looking down at his phone placed on the table next to his bowl of cereal. The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments, both remembering the last time they had talked. 

"Lance—"

Lance abruptly sat up taking his phone with him as he left the kitchen.

Allura and Shiro watched him go and Allura placed a hand on Shiro's elbow, begging him to look at her, "He'll come around."

Shiro turned back to where Lance had left and sighed. Allura then proceeded to head over to the table where a letter had been opened.

"Look!" she said as she handed Shiro the letter, "This is from another boston university I applied to! It's very expensive so I won't go unless they offer something good for tuition but it's another good choice!"

Shiro smiled, "WIth your grades, your merit scholarship will be amazing."

Allura blushed as she took back the letter. setting it on the table, "You're too nice Shiro, I'm not that great of a student."

"Liar," Shiro teased as he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the nap of Allura's neck as he swayed her side to side, "You're the smartest girl I ever met."

Allura frowned, "But I'm not the smartest girl in the world."

"Bullshit," Shiro replied.

"No I mean it Shiro," Allura sighed pulling away from Shiro. Her blue eyes showed concern and insecurity as she met Shiro's, "What if I don't get into Harvard?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Shiro replied, "You have a better shot of getting in then anybody else in Altea, Maryland and hell, even the nation."

"I wouldn't be so confident when you're a star athlete," Allura admitted, "Colleges love athletes."

"And they love somebody who will actually graduate and study at their school," Shiro teased.

"Seriously, think about it. We're basing our relationship in the future based off of the fact that we're going to the same college but what would happen if we don't? What if I don't get accepted? What if you don't? What'll happen? What are we going to do about us?"

Shiro smiled as he caressed Allura's face, "Don't worry about it. Right now, we got other things to worry about."

Allura remained silent for a few seconds before nodding, "Alright." she replied, "I guess you're right."

The look on her face told Shiro she was still mulling it over in her head.

Allura smiled as she watched Shiro shrug on his varsity jacket, "Showing school spirit I see."   
  
Shiro huffed as he tugged on the sleeves of his girlfriend's own jacket, "Look who's talking."   
  
"C'mon," Allura said as she wrapped her arms around Shiro's arm, resting her head on his shoulder with a pout, "We're going to be late to the game."   
  
"Okay," Shiro chuckled as he grabbed his keys, "After you, princess."   
  
"Hey!" Allura swatted Shiro's arm.   
  
The two drove down to the gym and came in just as the first quarter started. As soon as they entered Matt and Katie waved their arms high up in the bleachers. The two trudged up the crowded bleachers and took their seats between the two siblings.   
  
"Hey Pidge," Allura greeted as she took her seat next to her best friend.   
  
"It's about time you made it," Katie answered with a wicked grin, "You missed the warm ups."   
  
"Yeah," Matt agreed, "It was funny seeing Keith and Lance's 1v1."   
  
"Keith's on varsity?" Shiro asked as he turned to the floor, finding Keith on the floor passing the ball over to another teammate.   
  
"Yeah," Katie answered, pushing up her glasses, "You didn't know?"   
  
"No," Shiro answered, "He didn't want to tell me."   
  
"Maybe he wanted to surprise you," Allura teased as she bumped shoulders with him.   
  
Matt gave Shiro a side-glance, studying Shiro. Out of everybody, Matt was the one who understood why Keith didn't tell him the most. He also knew why he shouldn't comment on that.   
  
Katie dug into her bag and offered the seniors popcorn. They all graciously took it and began to eat as they watched.   
  
Shiro was impressed with Lance. He had always known that Lance was talented but on the field he didn't shine so much as he did on the court. Lance was swift and fast, and took advantage of his surroundings. He analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates and the opposing team and formulated strategies.    
  
"Lance is really resourceful," Shiro commented as Lance passed the ball to the other side of the court where Keith was wide open. Keith managed to make it to the three-point line before shooting, the ball making a clean shot into the net.   
  
"He's always been like that," Allura replied with pride, "Even in football he took full advantage of what's thrown at him."   
  
Shiro smiled, a wave of regret washing over him, "He wouldn't be on varsity if he couldn't."   
  
Matt leaned over his best friend and glared at his sister, "Pidge, what are you doing?"   
  
"Nothing," Katie replied as she sipped on her can of Pepsi, "I'm just enjoying the game."   
  
Matt snorted as he turned to the opposite side of the bleachers where somebody was making signals towards their direction. Katie responded back with making signals with her hands.   
  
"You're not paying attention!" Matt whined.   
  
Katie huffed as she adjusted her glasses, tying her long brown hair into a ponytail, "He's a guy in the robotics travel team I'm in. He's one of my best friends, you met him before Matt."   
  
Matt rolled his eyes as he smirked, "Yeah, yeah I know your entire nerd team, just stop flirting with your boyfriend and cheer on your friends."   
  
Katie huffed as she turned back to the game. The rest of the game was rather uneventful. The four of them ate popcorn and cheered on their team. Altea's basketball team pulled ahead of their challenger quickly but the opposing team caught up just as quickly. It soon came to the last minute of the fourth quarter and they were still neck and neck. Their team had the ball, but the other team had an aggressive offensive. If Shiro was able to point that out, Lance should've already figured out how to counter that. The current point guard, Keith, was dribbling the ball looking for an opportunity to pass. Lance, somebody who doubles as a centre and power forward was making himself open for the winning shot. Keith, having quick reflexes was watching Lance like a hawk as he dodged the other players' swipes. Finally, Lance had an opening and shot his hand out, waving for Keith to pass the ball. As fast as lightning, Keith abruptly stopped running and shifted his position so that he could pass the ball over to Lance in one deft motion. The other team began to chase the ball in the air but Lance quickly grabbed it and dribbled across the court.    
  
There was screaming coming from both sides of the gym. Shiro stood there in shock at the amazing teamwork his little brother and Lance demonstrated as Lance quickly made a shot from the three-point line.    
  
There's a moment of silence as the buzzer blared through the gymnasium just as the ball made it through the hoop. The ball bounced against the floor and echoed across the room. Everybody turned to the scoreboard with bated breath to see the results.   
  
**Home: 36 Away: 33**   
  
The crowd erupted, ecstatic that their team won. People blew air horns and popped confetti, streaming over everybody below. The group ended up getting some of it in their hair and they all laughed as they hugged. Shiro caught the varsity team below coming together to celebrate their victory, Keith and Lance standing off to the side. The two were smiling at each other and saying incomprehensible words before Keith pulled Lance in for a hug. Lance looked shocked for a split second before he lit up as he returned the gesture. Shiro smiled, glad that Keith and Lance have gotten close. They've come a long way since fall when Keith didn't even want to be anywhere near Lance.   
  
As people began parting their ways, Allura grabbed Shiro's hand and ran down the bleachers to greet her cousin.   
  
"Lance!" she called out, "You did amazing!"   
  
Lance smiled confidently as he wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously. Next to him Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.   
  
"They don't call me "the sharpshooter" for nothing," Lance grinned.    
  
"Are you joking?" Keith inquired teasingly, an eyebrow raised, but a smile starting to form, "Nobody calls you that."   
  
Allura laughed good-naturedly, "Oh Keith, don't mind him, he just likes to put himself on a high pedestal."   
  
Keith smiled to himself as he rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it," he agreed.    
  
Lance placed a hand on his chest mocking an offended person and gasped, "Rude."   
  
Shiro laughed, as he turned to Keith, "You did amazing too. Why didn't you tell me you were on varsity?"   
  
His little brother shrugged, tying up his sweaty mullet into a ponytail, "Never felt like it was the right time."   
  
"Alright," Shiro wrapped an arm around his brother and turned to his girlfriend and her cousin, "We gotta go, but good game."   
  
"Bye!" Allura said as she kisses Shiro's cheek. She flirtatiously twiddled her fingers as she guided Lance to the rest of the team to join on the celebration.   
  
The two brothers walked into the chilly January air. Their walk to Shiro's car had a tranquil aura. On the way back home, Shiro let Keith play his music on the aux cord.    
  
"So," Shiro said as Keith went through his phone, picking a song to play, "Lance is an impressive basketball player."   
  
Keith didn't respond, instead, he began to play Mayday Parade quietly. Shiro glanced at Keith who shrugged as if he couldn't care less. "Also, I didn't know you and Lance were friends."   
  
Keith still didn't respond to that, ignoring his brother for his phone but he smiled, a small chuckle escaping his lips.   
  
"Hey," Shiro playfully swats Keith's phone from his hands, "It's rude to be on your phone when somebody is talking to you."    
  
Keith gasps and reaches for his phone, "Hey! Give that back!" Shiro averts his arm away from Keith and places the phone between his thighs. "Nuh-uh," he responds, "Who are you talking to so much anyways?"   
  
Keith bit his lip as he shrugged, "Friends."   
  
Shiro smiled as he turned to his little brother, "Friends, huh?"   
  
Keith nodded, "Can I have my phone back now?"   
  
"Of course," Shiro responded as he handed the sophomore his phone.   
  
As Keith went back to texting whoever he’d been texting, Shiro smiled warmly, "But really, I'm glad you're making friends. I was a little worried at first that you might be alone, but now that I see you have friends, I bet you will do fine without—   
  
"I'm not making friends just so you can leave," Keith snapped at his older brother. His lilac eyes reflected the lights coming from street lamps, showing his anger.   
  
Shiro sighed, "I know that. But it leaves off the stress—   
  
"I don't want you to go," Keith admitted as he turned away, "I need you here..."   
  
"But if I stay, will you ever spread your wings?"   
-   
"Hey Shiro," his mom greeted when Shiro returned home, "How was the game?"   
  
"Good," Shiro smiled, "Thanks for asking."   
  
His mother gestured to the counter behind her, "There's a letter from Harvard for you over there."    
  
Shiro's eyes widened. The moment of truth has finally arrived. He approached the counter and study the clean and neat print addressed to him from the college of his dreams.    
  
Shiro gingerly took the letter and looked up at his mother who gave him a thumbs up. He took a deep breath before tearing the letter open and taking out the message that awaited him.   
  
**Shirogane Takashi,** ****  
****  
**Welcome to Harvard University! We're excited to have you attend our prestigious school in the fall. Please make sure you have submitted your deposit by May 5th.** ****  
****  
**Director of Admissions**   
  
"Keith! Honey!" His mother called out, "Come down quick! Shiro got his letter of acceptance!"   
  
Shiro's father came down immediately, with a hesitant Keith in tow. Keith didn't look thrilled to be interrupted from whatever he was doing.    
  
"Look!" Shiro's mother excitedly pointed to the letter in Shiro's hand, "Our eldest is going to Harvard!"   
  
Keith scoffed and crossed his arms, turning his head away, "Whatever."   
  
Shiro's father turned to his youngest son and gave a scolding look, "What's with that attitude? Harvard is a very selective university, aren't you happy?"   
  
"No," Keith said, "I'm not."   
  
Shiro sighed exasperatedly as he dropped the letter on the counter, "Keith, I am so sick of you acting like," he gestured to the stance his little brother was in, "this. Whether you like it or not I'm going away for college. The least you can do is at least show some support."   
  
"He's right," their mother agreed, "What's wrong with you? You have always been so supportive of your older brother."   
  
Keith gritted his teeth and snapped, "Why do you act like I'm the bad guy here?! Shiro's the one making selfish decisions when we all need him!"    
  
"I'm not going away forever," Shiro reassured.   
  
"But you're not staying in Altea." Keith responded.   
  
"Keith, I am going to Boston whether you like it or not," Shiro angrily said, "I am going to follow my dreams, the goals I have made myself since I was a child. You’ve known this for years as well Keith. I can't accomplish anything if I stay in Altea."   
  
Keith stared angrily at his older brother, his violet eyes studying the tense figure of Shiro before crossing his arms and scoffing.    
  
Shiro relaxed and softened his expression in a last resort to comfort his little brother, "As much as I'm going to miss you too Keith, I have to leave eventually, I'm almost an adult—"   
  
"Whatever," Keith interrupted, "If you want to be selfish, go ahead. I can't stop you." He stormed out of the kitchen and stomped on his way upstairs, the house shaking from his dramatic act.    
  
Shiro sighed shakily and ran a hand through his hair. His father patted his back.    
  
"He's just going through some things," he said, "It's going to be hard for all of us when you leave but Keith," his father glanced upstairs, "It's gonna be the hardest for him."   
  
"But he'll come around," Shiro's mother smiled, "You know how Keith is. Congratulations, Shiro."   
  
"Thanks," Shiro said, feeling his phone vibrate, a message from somebody. His parents smiled and left the kitchen leaving behind encouraging glances to let Shiro alone. He pulled out his phone and saw the notification light up on his screen, smiling at the sender.    
  
**Allura Sent: 10:45 am** ****  
****  
**_Hey, I'm happy that you made it to Harvard! Congrats!_ ** ****_  
_ ****_  
_ **_Thanks, I'm excited to go to Boston with you!_ ** ****_  
_ ****_  
_ **_Yeah...about that... I didn't get in Shiro. I'm not going to Harvard._ ** **_  
_ **


	3. Spring

The rest of winter was spent in a haze. Shiro went to school, went to work, and picked up his brother from basketball. He and Allura were still together but the fact that their time together was going to be cut short, loomed like a dark cloud over their romance. It was like unspoken words that neither dared to say. The talk of their futures had dropped the same day they realized they will not be together. Shiro had wanted to say something but Allura was an expert at dodging the subject. The basketball team went on to have an amazing year, winning the state championships. On the front of the local newspaper was a picture of Keith and Lance about to celebrate after Lance's winning shot alongside the team picture with their captains holding up their trophy. With the end of basketball season, Keith was talked into trying out for baseball where he too, made it onto varsity with Lance.    
  
Ever since that one game, Shiro had figured that Keith and Lance were becoming great friends, but by the time March rolled around, something else was blossoming.   
  
Shiro wouldn't get his confirmation until one day while waiting for Keith to come out of practice, he spotted his little brother and Lance walking out together. They're not the only ones coming out in pairs but the air seemed different around those two. As they walked, their bag of gear slung over their shoulders, their hands brushed slightly from their proximity. Allura's cousin leaned into Keith's ear and whispered something, a hint of a smirk forming on his face. As he pulled away, Keith began to laugh. While other pairs parted by the time they reached the lot, they continued walking together until they reached Shiro's car. They're still laughing over whatever joke Lance had told and the two take a minute to calm down. As the laughter faded the two looked at each other in silence for a moment before Keith turned away, a hint of a blush on his face as he opened the door.   
  
"Text me!" Lance called out, with a wink.   
  
Keith laughed light-heartedly, as he closed the door, "I will!"   
  
For a second the two stare at each other, neither wanting to leave the other but Shiro abruptly ignited the car. As it roared to life, Lance's blue eyes shifted over to Shiro's. The two boys stared at each other for a moment. Shiro's heart pounded and opened his mouth to say something, before closing it when he found he had nothing to say.    
  
Suddenly, Lance smiled and waved his hand, "Hey Shiro."   
  
Shiro, in response, nodded, "Hey."   
  
Lance shifted back to Keith and smirked, "Hasta la later, Keith."   
  
Keith hummed, "Bye."   
  
As Shiro pulled away, the blush on Keith's red face began to deepen a bit as he let a frustrated sigh. Shiro smiled teasingly.   
  
"I didn't know your skin could be a color besides pale."   
  
Keith huffed as his flushed darkened, "Well, he's not so bad... besides, I'm not the one who insulted Lance."   
  
"Right..." Shiro bit his lip, the air around them going stale. The car ride remained silent for a few minutes before Keith spoke up.   
  
"You should...talk to him," Keith suggested.   
  
Shiro smiled teasingly, "Aren't you already?"   
  
Keith's face reddened as he scrambled for something to say, "That's—! It's not like that!"   
  
"Really?" Shiro teased.   
  
Keith shook his head, "That's not the point! And, stop trying to change the subject!"    
  
Shiro laughed as he turned the wheel, "Alright, alright. I'm just messing with you."   
  
Keith huffs, "Whatever."   
  
Shiro glances at Keith before turning back to the road.   
  
"...and you should come to the first game of the year too."   
  
Shiro smiled, "Alright, when is it?"   
  
"Next Saturday, I'm playing second base."   
  
"Great," Shiro responded, "I'm proud of you, you know that?"   
  
Keith shrugged in his seat, taking out his phone and beginning to ignore Shiro, to continue his conversation with Lance.    
  
On the corner Shiro was about to round, he spotted Allura in her own jeep across the street. The two of them made eye contact before Shiro rounded the corner.    
  
  
  
Allura was at her locker, her long hair tied up into a bun as she collected her books for her first class of the day. It's where Shiro had always met up with her in the morning, and that morning wasn't anything different.   
  
Shiro approached his girlfriend, leaning against the locker as she gathered her stuff, "Hey."   
  
With so much as a glance, Allura continued searching with a blase, "Hey."   
  
Despite her cold attitude, there's a smile on her face.    
  
"So," Shiro began, "I was thinking of going to the baseball game to watch Keith play. Want to come with?"   
  
Allura closed the locker and looked up at Shiro, blue eyes glistening as she nodded. She seemed tired, bags were starting to form under her eyes and she seemed to have a lack of energy. Shiro offered the cup of coffee he bought on the way to school to his girlfriend. She smiled as she took it, taking a sip.   
  
"Thanks."   
  
"Rough night?" Shiro asked.   
  
"You have no idea," Allura sighed. She returned the drink to her boyfriend, and hoisted up her books. It was then that Shiro realized that Allura was wearing a sweatshirt. It was navy blue with the mascot of the local university. Shiro's expression fell when he saw the sweatshirt. Seeing him, Allura looked down at the logo and looked up, "Is there something on me?" she asked.   
  
Shiro shook his head, "Are you going there?"   
  
"I plan to," Allura responded, "It's offered me the best tuition."   
  
"Then I'll go too," Allura's eyes widen at Shiro's words.   
  
"Don't be ridiculous. You've been accepted to Harvard. Don't go here because I'm going, follow your dreams."   
  
"Maybe I should stay," Shiro replied with a sullen expression.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Keith doesn't want me to go," Shiro explained, "And believe me, he's been very vocal about it. And despite my merit scholarship, it's still a lot for my parents to pay for. Now there's you, I feel bad that I am going when you, who deserves it so much more than I, isn't going."   
  
"You shouldn't punish yourself," Allura placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder, smiling brilliantly. Her dark skin glows a bit under the light. "Go because it's your dream, not because somebody has something else in mind for you. It's your life. I'm sure that in the end, everybody will be alright."   
  
"Even you?"   
  
"Obviously," Allura smiled teasingly.   
  
"Even Keith?"   
  
"Of course, give him time," Allura responded as her blue eyes pondered for a moment, "There's a saying...an idiom I think, it goes like 'time heals all wounds'...?"   
  
Shiro smiled, "Yeah, I've heard of that."   
  
"Go for it Shirogane. Chase your dreams. Go to Harvard."   
  
Shiro hugged his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head. What has he ever done to deserve such a beautiful and perfect girl? "Thanks."   
  
The warning bell rang, but neither refused to break the embrace.   
  
  
  
The avatar on the screen was in the middle of an intense battle, and Shiro found himself struggling to have the upper-hand. His fingers ran over the controls like crazy, and yet he was managing to lose. Suddenly, he spotted it, a weak spot the boss had, Shiro immediately took action, equipping his best weapon when there's a sudden knock. Shiro deftly paused the game and answered, "Come in."   
  
The door creaked open and Keith's mullet-head poked in. He looked a bit shy and unsure, as if he was still debating whether or not he should come in.   
  
"Keith," the surprise in his voice is evident and Shiro cringed slightly at it as he patted the empty spot next to him on his bed, "What brings you here?"   
  
His little brother walked into the room. His arms crossed as he shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know." He said softly. Shiro began to prompt Keith to tell him but then Keith abruptly said, "I just wanted to apologize for my attitude for the past couple of months. I guess, I'm just going to find it really strange here without you."   
  
Shiro smiled, "It's alright, I think, if the tables were flipped, I would've acted the same way. I'm sorry too."   
  
Keith lowered his crossed arms, confusion written across his face, "For what?"   
  
"For my actions too, I shouldn't have dropped the bomb on you like that."   
  
Keith smiled, "Yeah, you really shouldn't have."   
  
"Hey!"   
  
Keith chuckled, "I forgive you too, and uh, I hope you do well in Harvard."   
  
Shiro smiled as he offered a spare controller, "Wanna join?"   
  
Keith's face lit up, "What game?"   
  
"Tales of Zestiria, I'm already at the final boss fight."   
  
His little brother took the controller and plopped himself beside Shiro as he unpaused the game. As the two battled, Keith casually mentioned, "Oh, uh, by the way, Lance and I are dating now."   
  
"Shocker," the response received a light jostle by his arm, "Hey! I'm happy for you!" Shiro defended himself, "I am!"   
  
Keith's smile was soft as he replied, "Thanks, he's coming over tomorrow night by the way. Study date."   
  
"Aw, 'study date.'" Shiro teased.   
  
"Seriously, we have a big chemistry test this Friday and we can't fail it. Which means, behave yourself."   
  
"I will," Shiro promised, "Who do you take me for?"   
  
"Well, my boyfriend is convinced you hate him."   
  
"Bullshit, he's one of the most talented guys I've ever known."   
  
"You dare to say that to his face?"   
  
"Bring him over, I'll do it while I bake cookies."   
  
Keith smiled teasingly, knowing how awful Shiro's cookies are, "That's awful."   
  
"But seriously, Lance is a great guy. And I don't hate him."   
  
As they defeated the boss and the cut scene began to play. Keith leaned back, his lilac eyes looking up at ceiling with a sense of wonderment as he admitted, "That's what I've been trying to tell him."   
  
  
  
The first thing Keith does when the doorbell rings, was demand Shiro to hide out in the kitchen and "Don't embarrass me." With a light chuckle, Shiro resigned himself to his fate and headed towards the kitchen, setting out the cookies he had purchased after school." From his spot in the kitchen, he could see Keith nervously rub his hands on his pants before taking a deep breath and swiftly opening the door. Lance stood at their doorstep smiling, his backpack hanging loosely off of his one shoulder.   
  
"Hey," Lance greeted.   
  
"Hey," Keith responded shyly, his face slightly flushed. He stepped aside to allow Lance in and closed the door behind him.   
  
"Nice house," Lance complimented as he strode over to the table in the dining hall. Keith's stuff were already perfectly laid out on the table. Lance placed his backpack on a chair and began to take out his stuff. Keith hesitantly took his seat at the table and began to skim through the pages of his notes. He was visibly nervous, to the point that Shiro thought Keith was going to explode. Noticing this as well, Lance grabs Keith's hand and intertwines the, planting a chaste kiss on the back of Keith's hand. The black-haired boy looked up curiously, and Lance smiled, "Ready to study my love?"   
  
"Ready," Keith smiled, looking a lot more relaxed. They turned to their notebooks and began going over the notes. Aside from the occasional flirting, the two stayed mostly on topic. The two were struggling in different things, while Keith got the math, he struggled with the vocabulary and concepts. On the contrary, Lance excelled in the concepts but couldn't work out the math. It was a good balance, and the way the two of them helped each other out made Shiro chuckle a bit. He snapped a photo of them and sent it to Allura.   
  
**_Look at these two cuties._ **   
  
**From: Allura 6:47 PM**   
**_Not as cute as us though ;)_ **   
  
Shiro chuckled as he began to type in a response. As he looked up he caught Keith looking at Lance as he explained something to him, a sly smile on his face. Has he ever seen Keith so happy? He turned back to his text. When he looked up he spotted Lance standing up, asking where the bathroom was. Now was his chance. Shiro approached the archway to the room and poked his head in.

"I can show you the way if you don't mind?" Shiro smiled at Lance casually as if he wasn't just eavesdropping the couple. Keith gave him an irritated look and groaned. Lance looked at Shiro with surprise.

"Sure. I don't mind," Lance answered as he turned back to Keith, "I'll be back in a second, okay? How about you work on what I just told you."

Keith nodded as Shiro gave him a smirk. Keith grunted, "What?"

"How about you work on what I just told you?" Shiro mimicked teasingly.

"Ergh just go!" Keith blushed as he waved the two boys away.

Lance laughed as Shiro led him to the bathroom, "You and Keith get along  _ so _ well."

"You have no idea," Shiro smiled, "You two also get along great."

Lance flushed, his blue eyes sparkling dreamily at the thought of Keith, "Well, it wasn't always like that."

"I know," Shiro agreed, thinking about the previous fall, "But I'm glad you two worked things out."

"Me too," Lance said, "When the two of us first met, all we did was fight. But I never hated him, in fact, I uh sort of had a crush on him. After senior night, Keith came to me and thanked me for protecting him and I somehow convinced him to play basketball in that conversation. So, we played basketball together. And then we played baseball together." Lance paused a fond smile growing on his face, "I guess since we were both really athletic and already knew each other, we were paired a lot during practices and we balanced each other. We sometimes stayed a bit after practice to teach each other things. And we became friends and somewhere along the way, I gathered up the courage to ask him out and—

"I'm happy for you two," Shiro admitted, "Keith has always sort of attached himself to me and I was worried that he'll be alone, but then you came and brought him out of his shell. So thank you, Lance."

Lance chuckled, "It's not that big of a deal."

"It is for me. And, I'm sorry about yelling at you over senior night."

"It's alright," Lance shook his head, "I understand now that I probably wasn't in the right mind—

"No, don't say that," Shiro interrupted, " _ I _ wasn't in the right mind. I yelled at you for doing something right. And I'm sorry for all the mean things I said too." Shiro laid a hand on Lance's shoulder, "Lance, you are an amazing athlete. Better than I ever was. Three sports and being on varsity on two of them as a freshman? I only ever played football. You're amazing."

Lance flushed, "You know, hearing those words from the guy I've admired since middle school, means a lot to me."

Shiro patted Lance's back, "Alright, alright, the bathroom's here, Keith's waiting for you."

Shiro started heading back to the kitchen when he heard Lance say, "And Shiro?"

"Yes?" he turned to look back at Lance. 

The brunette was smiling brilliantly as he said, "Good luck at Harvard."

Shiro smiled, "Thank you."

Allura's hair was tied up into two buns on opposing sides of her head. Her dorky glasses were a skewed on the bridge of her nose. Her white shirt was loose fitted and showed off a bit of her stomach before it disappeared beneath her high-waisted shorts. She was smiling as she came into the lunchroom, something that never ceased to make Shiro's heart skip a beat. Katie and Matt spot Allura coming in and the two look at each other.

"She looks super happy today," Matt commented.

"Yeah, a little too happy if you ask me," Katie added, taking a sip of her drink, "I think she has something to announce."

"C'mon guys, leave Allura alone. She's probably just happy," Shiro said.

"Uh huh, I'm her best friend, wanna bet?" Katie brought out a hand.

"No."

"Guys!" Allura said as she set her stuff down on the table, "I have great news!"

"Told you," Katie whispered.

"What is it?" Shiro asked.

"Boston University just offered me an amazing scholarship based off of my robot for the robotics competition!" She excitedly turned to Shiro, "I'm going to Boston!"

"Really?!" Shiro beamed, "Allura, that's amazing!"

"I know!" Allura giggled as she hugged him, "That means we'll be able to see each other more often!"

Shiro hugged her back, laughing along with her. Thank god. He was scared that the two will be forced to break up at the end of the year because they didn't want to try a long-distance relationship. Allura took Shiro's face in her hands and pulled him in for a kiss. Across the table, the Holt siblings chuckled. 

"Gross," Justin commented as he came to the table a box of pizza in his hand, "I was going to offer you guys pizza but I don't want to get HIV."

"Justin, you can't get HIV from a slice of pizza," Katie rolled her eyes.

Allura chuckled as she pulled away, "It's alright Justin, Shiro and I are having pizza tonight anyways," her hands intertwined with Shiro underneath the table.

"And you're not inviting me?"

"No, it's a date," Shiro replied, "Which means it's just us two."

"Okay, now you're definitely not getting pizza."

Shiro chuckled, "Alright."

The couple side-glanced each other knowingly.

Shiro stood at Allura's back porch looking at the beautiful back garden her uncle had. Behind him are black, silver and gold banners with graduation caps and diplomas. Early 2000s music played inside the house and he can hear the faintest sounds of conversations among his peers. 

It was strange. He's a graduate. He knows he's been in school for four years but it really felt it's all been in one year. Time flew by too fast. He's glad that school is over though. 

The door behind him opened and Shiro turned around to find his brother with two cups of soda in his hands.

"Is it Pepsi like I asked?"

"Sorry, it's Coke. But they're the same thing, right?"

"No, Coke is disgusting. Pepsi's sweeter."

Keith gestured towards the door, "If you'd like, I can go and get the Pepsi—"

"Just give me the fucking drink," Shiro took one of the cups and began to drink it, "So, what brings you out here?"

Keith shrugged, "Not sure, I just wanted to hang out with my brother."

Shiro chuckled, "Of course."

Keith smiled for a second before looking down at his soda with a gloomy expression, "I'm going to miss you when you leave Altea."

Shiro smiled, "I'll miss you too, Keith."

Keith's grip on his cup hardened as he asked, "Do you think, I'll do great Shiro? I mean, I know I won't ever be as great as you were in high school, but do you think I'll ever be able to make my own mark?"

Shiro smiled as he ruffled his little brother's hair, "I  _ know _ you will do  _ amazing _ Keith."

Keith's face flushed as he took a sip of his coke. Just then the door slammed opened with Lance bursting out and immediately wrapping his arms behind Keith, swaying him from side to side as he peppered kisses all over the nape of his neck. Keith dropped his cup of soda making it spill all over the porch as he giggled and tried to pry Lance off of him.

"Stop that!" 

"Hmm, let me take you away my prince," Lance giggled as he looked up and realized Shiro was right there. He smiled and waved, "Congrats Shiro! I'm rooting for your team next year so you better be worth betraying Rutgers!"

Shiro laughed, "Oh trust me, we're going to kick everybody's ass this year. I'm also expecting Triple-Varsity All Star to bring my team to victory next year."

Lance winked at Shiro before dragging Keith back inside. Shiro chuckled to himself before turning away. The door opened again and Allura poked her head out. 

"Ah, there you are," Allura smiled as she approached her boyfriend. She wrapped her arms around Shiro from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder. "You know, this is a graduation party for two seniors, not one." 

"I'm not much of a party person," Shiro answered.

Allura chuckled before sighing dreamily, "Boston, huh?"

"Yeah."

"It's going to be a whole new world compared to Altea. You ready?"

"With you? I'm more than ready."

Allura giggled, "I'm so glad I met you."

Shiro blushed, "And I, you."

They stand there in silence watching the squirrels play around in Coran's garden. The sun is starting to set, orange and red hues scarring the sky. Allura lets Shiro go and stands by his side, taking Shiro's hand. 

"Thank you, for all you've done this year," Allura confessed as her thumb rubbed over Shiro's hand. Shiro smiled in response. His girlfriend rested her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her shoulders and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hey there lovebirds!" Katie screams as she kicks the door open. The couple jump and turn around to face all their friends beaming at them.

"So this is where you two headed off. Un-fucking believable," Matt shook his head in shame.

Shiro laughed in disbelief, "C'mon stop bullying us—"

"Hey, Allura what's it like being the valedictorian of Voltron High and Voltron's star athlete's girlfriend?" Lance cooed as he slung his arms over Hunk and Keith’s shoulders, "Cause I can't relate!"

"Fuck off," Allura giggled giving him the finger, "Leave us alone for two more seconds."

"They just want a quickie," Hunk whispered loud enough to make the two graduates blush.

"Okay, that's enough teasing," Coran barged into the group, waving a camera.

"Thank you Uncle—

"They can save  _ that  _ stuff for after the rest of you leave," Coran winked.

"Yes Uncle!" Lance cheered. 

"I can't believe I was betrayed by my own caretaker," Allura sighed in disbelief.

"Alright everybody! Gather around the graduates! It's time to take a picture!" Coran yelled as he pushed the teenagers outside the house.

The Holt siblings immediately took their places on either side of the couple. Lance and Keith planted themselves in front of them Keith's hand holding onto Lance's elbow. Behind Matt stood Hunk smiling brilliantly. Coran lifted the camera and began to count down.

"This year was wild wasn't it?" Allura whispered.

Shiro took his girlfriend's hand and nodded, "Yeah." The two smiled at each other before turning to face the camera.

_ Click! _ The camera flashed, framing that one single moment forever. 

But he thinks everything will be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, moon for being my beta! :D
> 
> This work is apart of [ the Shiro Big Bang](voltronbigbang.tumblr.com) so check out all the other cool fics too! :D
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated! <3


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